The Freedom Revolt
The Freedom Revolt (1314 NE) was a rebellion across the ECK colonies, resulting in the ECK's expulsion from all but the Zone 1 planets of Esharra and Kadingir. The revolt marks the beginning of the Anarchy, a period of instability and non-governance which would end 41 years later with the formation of the FTN in 1355 NE. Stirrings of Discontent Colonisation put the ECK's ability to control its population under great strain. Between 1000 and 1314 NE the old structures that had worked on Esharra fell apart in many places, and were replaced by brute force. The biggest challenges for the ECK were logistical. Com lag between tunnel gates threatened traditional record keeping, which back on Esharra had always been instantaneous. Misdemeanours perpetrated by citizens could no longer be addressed with the same ruthless efficiency if the culprits moved between zones regularly. Environmental variety across worlds decreased loyalty to the Keeper, and increased loyalty toward local governors. Those living in the hot jungles of Lilit had little in common with the glacier miners on Haddis. Pragmatists among the ECK tried to appeal to local sensibilities, and often succeeded, but in so doing undermined Keeper doctrine. C-Division grew increasingly panicked by the public's indifference to their ideology, and so bagan exacting harsher penalties for infractions. People across the colonies appealed to their governors, who, bound by ECK laws were unable to help. Unrest on Lilit In 1308 NE, Harold Yerevar, ECK governor of Lilit, refused to execute a group of 12 students found to be circulating Seeder art - a blasphemy the ECK particularly despised. Yerevar was imprisoned, and C-Division interim governor, Leonard Paphe was assigned. Paphe clamped down on breaches of doctrine like never before. In the first four months of his term, 140 'criminals of conscience' were executed on the shores of Firelake. An underground movement took root on Lilit, with chapters in other colonies. Unfortunately they had little access to weapons and other resources, so we're limited to terrorist-like attacks on ECK property. Conspiracy within the ECK Unbeknownst to the rebels, the ECK's K-Division was under great strain. Enraged by the unrest on the colonies, C-Division made ever demands to overcome com lag and increase ship tunneller capacity. A conspiracy took root amongst the ECK elite, headed by Osmund Mede and Joseph Colchin. Mede was a prominent K-Division tunneller drive expert, Colchin headed one of P-Division's largest Ekalium mining programmes. Mede masterminded the escape of Harold Yerevar from his prison on Kadingir, then smuggled him back to Lilit in 1313 NE. The rebels were appropriately impressed, and Mede gained their trust. He began supplying them with weapons but bade them to hold off attacking until he signalled them to do so. The Rebellion On 2 | 3 | 1314 NE, Mede staged a mutiny on board the ECK dreadnought, Conquest. He also signalled the Firelake rebels, lead by Harold Yerevar and Bernard Asmar, to storm the ECK spaceport and the governor's residence. Asmar's militants captured governor Leonard Pyphe, and hanged him from the end of the White Wharf. They also murdered 52 C-Division officers in Pyphe's entourage. A few ECK ships managed to launch from the spaceport, but most were destroyed when Conquest appeared in orbit and began picking them off. The ECK ordered their primary fleet, under the command of General Ralph Thanos, to destroy Conquest and retake Lilit. Meanwhile, the rebels in Firelake captured a number of smaller gunships and joined up with Conquest. Thanos send messengers to General Jon Dokus, commander of the Outer Fleet - responsible for policing the newest colonies, including Zikru. Outside of Lilit, Zikru was home the largest resistance movement, whom, in tandem with the Liliti were commencing open rebellion. Dokus responded to Thanos informing him that he could not abandon the colonies. Thanos commanded a dreadnought called Resilience, the newest and most powerful in the ECK fleet. It acted as a tunneller convoy, taking other ships with it. To assemble the full fleet at Lilit, Thanos would jump a quarter of the fleet himself, and send the remaining three quarters through tunnel gates from various locations across the zones. After Thanos tunnelled, his allies failed to materialise from the tunnel gate. Mede had anticipated this move, and had spent the last few years sabotaging the gates for this purpose. On his command, the 45 missing warships had been teleported to the centre of a star some five light years away from the colonies. In one fell swoop, he had destroyed most of the ECK Fleet - and killed around 25,000 military personnel. However, Mede underestimated the firepower Thanos was able to bring directly with him. Thanos offered Mede an ultimatum: give up Conquest and surrender, or he would nuke the planet several times over. The stand-off was interrupted by the arrival of Dokus' fleet - unmolested by the tunnel gate. Dokus had made a secret agreement with Mede: if phase one worked, and the nulk of the ECK's fleet was eliminated, he would support the rebellion. Against Dokus and Mede combined, Thanos didn't stand a chance. Resilience and its convoy were abliterated. As a final seal to the victory, Mede sent one of Thanos' scouts, packed with nukes, through the tunnel gate to Esharra. The explosion destroyed the ECK tunnel gate, Aplum, cutting them off from the colonies. Aftermath The remaining ECK forces on the colonies surrendered quickly. Mede promised amnesty for any crimes they were deemed to have committed for the ECK. Jon Dokus' fleet was broken up into parts, to defend and police different colonies. Dokus commanded the largest of these, later it would become the FTN corporation, VentureCore. Osmund Mede and Joseph Colchin worked tirelessly to implement the credits system, the new currency to replace the ECK loyalty system. Colchin masterminded Ekalium production, his network would later become PEK14 under the FTN. Mede oversaw huge upgrades to the existing astral stations and tunnel gates, commissioned the construction of several more, and began work on the space elevator in Firelake. He founded what would become WarpGrid and LifeSpark. Lilit and Zikru would develop into the two most valuable colonies, with the largest populations and production capacities. During the Anarchy and early years of the FTN these worlds would receive many privileges as a direct result of their role in the revolt. Category:Event